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Bennet, Udall back health system proposals to improve record keeping, controls on costs

By {screen_name}
Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Colorado’s senators are backing a series of health care proposals aimed at promoting electronic record keeping and eliminating confusing and expensive reporting requirements for physicians.

The package supported by Sens. Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, both Democrats, would require the Department of Health and Human Services to adopt and maintain a single, national standard for some of the most basic electronic transactions that occur between insurers and providers.

“We need to bring our system of coding and information sharing into the 21st century,” Bennet said in a news release. “If we do this, we will cut down on red tape, increase transparency and speed innovation that controls costs and improves the quality of care for all Coloradans.”

Udall said the package includes a provision he has pushed, which would expand the reach of the independent Medicare advisory board to examine not just Medicare but the entire health care system. The board would be required to find ways to slow the growth of health costs across the country, and it could recommend steps to the private sector.

“If we’re going to truly tackle spiraling health care spending in this country, we need to push each area of the health care system to be smarter and more efficient in dealing with cost growth,” Udall said in a statement.

Both senators touted the support of the AARP, the Main Street Alliance and other business and labor organizations.